The NieR Automata Ending Expansion List
by StrangerinCommonGround
Summary: Being an attempted expansion of twenty-one non-canon endings of NieR: Automata. Full understanding of the plot encouraged for the sake of understanding. Due to the specific circumstances required for each ending, characterisation may need to be sacrificed for the sake of following each ending through.
1. mission Failed

_YoRHa could not stand up to the might of the Goliaths: now their extinction is only a matter of time. It seems mankind will never reclaim its former glory._

"Boost!"

Just before the colossal buzzsaw could slam on 2B, 9S shot from the side and slammed into it, pushing it out of harm's way. He spun out of control for a brief second before righting himself. Just as he did, the unit's other arm whacked him from the side, throwing him in the air. "9S!" cried 2B helplessly, as he fell from his flight unit onto the back of the behemoth.

To her surprise, the unit leaned forward as it deactivated. "9S black box signal detected," Pod 042 informed her. "No response to communications." She took the opportunity to run onto the walkway ringing him. As she did, it suddenly reactivated and pulled back. 2B found a ladder and wasted no time in climbing it. There, she found 9S lying amidst the chimneys puffing out smoke.

"Black box signal ceased," Pod 042 declared suddenly. "Unit 9S confirmed dead."

"What?!" 2B ran up to 9S, investigating his body. "Wake up, dammit! Wake up!" she cried, only pulling away to slaughter incoming machines. Still, he didn't stir. 9S's flight unit suddenly flew from behind and landed by her. "HO229 flight unit. Command 677 received," Pod 042 informed her. "Usage rights transferred from 9S to 2B. Requesting acknowledgement."

With a resigned sigh, 2B left 9S and climbed into the unit. She flew right around to the front of the unit and resumed the fight. The unit emitted a deep rumble, one that slowly formed words. "Kill… Kill… Kill… Kill…" 2B was too frustrated and distraught to care, blasting it with every ounce she could muster. Yet, she knew it wasn't enough. The unit wasn't harmed in any significant way. The structure refused to buckle, weaken or surrender.

As a last resort, 2B detached herself from the flight unit and plunged her sword into its eye. "Will you just die already?!" she screamed.

The light died.

The light reactivated. Around her, three other goliath-class units emerged from the sea, all rumbling with the same cry. She stared at them in despair. "9…S…" she mumbled to herself, clinging onto her sword for as long as she could. What followed was nothing but pure pain.

"Black box signal ceased," came the report in the bunker. "Unit 2E confirmed dead."

The commander lowered her head. "This happened too soon," she said to herself. "We've lost both our greatest units. And we don't have enough data to create equally powerful units." She looked at her comrades. "The only choice we have left is a full-scale assault, and that still won't help us collect enough data."

She looked at the rest of YoRHa. "Alright, listen up!" she started. "From here on out, we're dedicating ourselves to protecting all android encampments. No attempt will be made to defeat the enemy. We… we no longer have the means to do so. So, we must do everything we can to prolong mankind's legacy!" She placed her hand to her chest. "Glory to mankind."

Everyone followed, but she could tell their motivation was fading. The fight was pretty much over. Their purpose was moot.


	2. hunGry for knowledge

_9S was last heard to say: "I can't control my curiosity about machines anymore. I'm leaving so I can study them as much as I want!" ...He was never heard from again._

9S watched the machine carry a pail of oil to the pile with fascination. It kept calling for its "brother." The thought that machines could even have relations to each other, let alone identify each other as siblings, fascinated him. He looked up to see the YoRHa units descend in the distance. "Well," he said with a disappointed sigh, "looks like it's time."

He jumped down from the beam he stood on, landing on a walkway between other beams. As he landed, he received a transmission. "Operator 21O to unit 9S," a stern voice beckoned. As she spoke, 9S examined the structures of the beams, of nearby cranes and nearby machines. He tried peeking through the structure to the machine trying to revive its "brother," but the transmission blocked him. "Come in 9S."

"Um, 9S here," he fumbled a response. "Go ahead." He tried peeking at them with the corner of his eye. It proved too difficult to see.

"The YoRHa troops have commenced their descent," 21O explained. "Disable the enemy base's defence systems immediately." She watched him with suspicion. His visor was up, but he clearly wasn't paying attention to her. "9S, respond," she barked.

"Roger that," he replied dismissively, before the feed ended. She decided to switch to Pod 153's feed. While she couldn't respond to him through it, she could at least keep an eye on him.

To her bemusement, 9S was looking around the factory in strange wonder. Slowly, he wandered further and further from his flight unit. "Alert," Pod 153 warned him, "leaving designated mission area." He wandered further still. She repeated her warning. Soon, he overlooked the edge of a crane, peering at the machine lifeforms below. It repeated its warning one last time.

He turned to her irritably. "I can't control my curiosity about machines anymore," he declared. "I'm leaving so I can study them as much as I want!" With that, he impaled the pod on his sword, disabling the feed.

21O stared in bewilderment, her jaw dropping beneath her visor. "Commander," she said uncertainly, "we have a problem."

Victory in the factory denied to them, YoRHa issued a retreat. Just as 2B faced the Engels unit, she received the order. 9S's former flight unit flew in to provide her a means of escape. "But I can take this hulk down with this unit!" she protested.

"Orders are orders," the commander responded. "Without 9S to rely on, we have no means of lowering the factory's defences. Frankly, it's a miracle you're even alive. We will have to earn our victory elsewhere." As she climbed into the flight unit, controls were yanked away from her. She couldn't even turn around.

Weeks later, the factory had apparently calmed down. "I think they found a purpose in life," Pascal told her. "So, they no longer have any need to attack YoRHa."

"Sure, they probably have," responded 2B, as they walked up to the factory entrance. Outside, four Engels units stood, their placid nature baffling and unsettling her. As far as she was concerned, they could trounce her in a heartbeat, (so to speak.) Still, command demanded that she go along with it. Inside was no less weird, with several purple machines standing in two rows on either side of the room.

"Um, hello," Pascal said, giving an awkward wave. "We're here to meet with to, um, negotiate peace with the androids?"

The door at the other end opened. Out stepped a humanoid figure in long, purple robes, their face hidden by a machine head. As they stepped into the centre of the room, they removed the head, revealing a young boy's head with short, white hair and big, purple eyes.

"You enter the sanctimony of machine apotheosis!" 9S declared. "Here we shall all die and become as gods!"

"Become as gods! Become as gods!" the machines chanted enthusiastically. Outside, they heard deeper voices rumble the same cry. "Shit!" 2B hissed, grabbing Pascal's arm and running for the door. As it opened, the face of an Engels stared straight at her. She gasped in horror.

And YoRHa never heard from her again.


	3. a mountain too High

_2B and 9S chose to abandon their mission, allowing the machines to wreak destruction upon the city ruins and Resistance camp. The extinction of YoRHa is also surely a matter of time._

As 2B entered the Amusement Park for the first time, she was surprised by many things: the fireworks shooting in the distance, the jovial-yet-somber music, along with the machines dressed as jesters and clowns, dancing. But the most peculiar thing was the statue.

She and 9S dispatched of the other lifeforms easily; they barely put up a fight. But this statue didn't flinch, didn't react. She knew it was alive, yet it refused to budge. Frustrated, she continued with the mission.

"A Goliath?!" 9S cried in shock. "This was a trap, I knew it!" He could feel the vibrations produced by the units.

"I promise you," Pascal told them via transmission, "we were not aware of this information." He ended the transmission. _Of course,_ 9S thought to himself. _He clearly doesn't want to help us fight them off._

He followed 2B along the bridge. "Wait," he said suddenly, "this takes us back to the amusement park."

"I know," 2B replied, showing no emotion.

"2B, why aren't we going to attack the Goliaths?" he insisted.

"There's a bigger enemy we need to eliminate," she answered. "An enemy capable of launching a surprise attack on the resistance camp if we're not careful."

"But the resistance camp's-"

"Quiet!"

Shocked into silence, 9S had no choice but to follow her back to the park.

The statue portrayed a machine with rabbit ears, blowing a trumpet and wearing a breastplate with a heart, spade, club and diamond adorning each corner. "What's wrong with it?" 9S asked. "It's just a copy of the White Rabbit, isn't it?"

"Listen," she urged, before banging on the knee. He expected a hollow echo. Instead, the leg flinched, the statue lost its step and jumped back. "Hey!" the statue protested. "Whaddya think yer doin' there?!"

He certainly put up a fight. Together, they were able to destroy that thing. It kept insisting it was cute, which baffled 2B. Unfortunately, 2B was destroyed during the battle. 9S, on the other hand, landed the final blow, costing him his right arm and left leg. All he could do now was wait for YoRHa to dispatch her.

To make up for lost time, he hobbled back to the resistance camp. The journey was long and arduous. "Proposal, unit 9S should wait for 2B to return," Pod 153 repeated, over and over. He grew numb to it very quickly.

When he finally returned to the resistance camp, everything was enveloped in clouds of smoke. When they cleared, all he could see was wreckage, debris and the broken bodies of the androids. "No…" he said softly, before collapsing. "No!" he cried in his despair. He heard whirring, and looked up to see the foot of a Goliath unit raise above him.

2B flew through the dust as quickly as she could. She had to make up for the six hours spent fighting that stupid fake statue. Suddenly, as the metal behemoths came into view, she received a call. "Operator to unit 2B. Come in, 2B."

"This is 2B."

"Due to your… negligence," she said with confused disgust, "the Resistance Camp has been wiped out. We YoRHa will no longer operate in this area. Prepare to move out."

"Wait, what are we doing?" She froze in her tracks.

"Relocating." The controls of the unit were yanked away from her. She flew back to the bunker, despite her efforts to regain control. "However," the commander continued as she left the stratosphoere, "I'm afraid we cannot risk you spearheading our operations any longer." The next thing she felt was a long, painful jolt of electricity. When it finally faded, her life functions had ceased.

"Unit 2B decommissioned," Pod 042 droned.


	4. no I in team

_9S waited several decades for 2B to return… but she was never seen again._

Her sword cut through Adam's chest. He groaned in pain, clutching her head. "Is this… death?" he wheezed, before she sliced the rest of his abdomen, leaving him to bleed on the blank floor. "So dark…" he gasped. "So cold…" She watched as his twitches slowly faded, leaving only a lifeless copy of a human. _You machines will_ _ **never**_ _be human,_ she thought to herself.

A thud drew her attention to 9S, lying unconscious on the floor. "9S!" she cried, running up to him. Just before she reached him, she received a transmission. "Operator 6O to 2B, come in 2B."

She stopped. "This is 2B," she answered reluctantly. "What is it?"

"Um, I've got some bad news." It was clear 6O didn't want to partake in this transmission any more than she did. "The commander has demanded that you leave 9S. Apparently he's become a potential threat to the mission."

"What?!"

"So, she's thinking of decommissioning him, and using his data to create a new S model."

She turned on her heels. "Like hell, she is," she snarled, marching back through the Copied City. She wiped her blade on the walls as she left.

Hours later, 9S drifted awake. "2B…" he muttered, looking around. She wasn't there. "Huh? 2B?" He thought he heard her voice. She must've been there. He got up. Around him, the blocks forming this artificial city tumbled around him. Where _was_ she? He ran up to the road leading into the city, but several blocks fell and blocked it. No strike of his blade could push them aside. "2B!" he cried helplessly.

"You can't do this to him!" 2B protested. "He doesn't know anything! He was just-"

"Hacked into by the lifeform known as Adam," the commander interrupted. "Who knows what secrets he told him of Project YoRHa?" She sighed. "I'm sorry, 2B, but we cannot take that risk. We're cutting him from the network."

"Commander!"

"Enough!" Their voices echoed through the control room. A few androids stopped working to peer at them. One stern look from the commander drew them back to their monitors. "If you keep this up, we may consider decommissioning you," she warned. "We'll introduce you to your new partner in a couple of days. In the meantime, try and offer light support wherever you can."

She lowered her head in defeat. "Understood," she said.

A few months later, the blocks began to move again. The entire city deconstructed. Sensing an opportunity, 9S sped for the elevator back up, but once again was blocked by the blocks. They formed around him, merging with each other and forming the base of a large construct. When it finally settled, 9S found himself on a bridge in the middle of a seemingly infinite expanse.

He snarled. Why did they cut him from the network? Now his hacking abilities had become obsolete, his thoughts narrowed and his mind bitter. Once, he longed to see 2B again. Now, as he walked across the bridge, he wanted to kill her. A strange, palpable hatred towards her had begun to emerge. He couldn't explain it. An overreaction to being betrayed and isolated? It pushed him forwards, so who was he to complain?

Two red-headed girls appeared in front of him. They both flickered, like apparitions. "Unit 9S," a voice said; a man's. "Welcome to our Tower."

"Wha… Tower?" He looked around. Was this really the base of a tower?

"We have seen for ourselves how YoRHa treated you, 9S," the voice assured him. "It must make you feel… unwanted, we're sure." He detected smugness. "So, we would like to offer you something. A pact, if you will. We will hook you up with the network once more, in exchange for your services."

"Deal!"

His eagerness briefly silenced the voice. "Very well," he finally said. "Take our hands." The two girls offered their hands to him. He grabbed both. Once he did, he suddenly felt an onslaught of images, ideas and programs assault his mind. He let go and fell to the ground.

The two girls watched with sadistic smiles as he pushed himself back up. "I'll kill them," he hissed. "Every machine, android and animal!"

The girls disappeared.


	5. bad Judgement

_In a sudden fit of temper, 2B wiped out the machine lifeforms, and no peace was born that day._

The door slowly opened. 2B and Pascal stepped in warily. The only light within the room came from the rows of machines on either side. In front, a machine faced them. "You enter the domain of God," it said.

 _God?_ Something about that word incensed her. _You dare to worship gods? You take that privilege away from humanity?!_ Her anger consumed her, and she didn't notice her sword decapitate the nearest machine. "Stop!" protested the leader. "We mean you no harm!"

"Please, you must be calm," Pascal added. 2B ignored him and sliced all machines in one row into small pieces, each exploding in her wake. With an unnecessarily fierce cry, she cut through the remaining row, leaving only the leader. "You will incur the wrath of God!" it warned.

"Good," she snarled. "I've always had a bone to pick with him." Within seconds, the leader was destroyed. She tucked her sword back behind her back and walked away. As she did, something rumbled behind the opposite door. She turned to see hundreds of machines pour through. "Our leader has died and become as god!" some yelled. "We shall all die and become as gods!" others shouted.

Pascal and 2B fled back through the factory. Outside, an Engels unit faced them. 2B grabbed Pascal's wrist and yanked him back down the stairs. Their pursuers gave up by the time they were safely back in the city. As they relaxed, Pascal glared at her. "What was that for?!" he cried. "We could've negotiated peace with them!"

"Clearly, they were psychos beneath that facade of peace," she replied. "Hold on, I've got a transmission coming." She turned away, walking slowly towards the resistance camp. He couldn't hear every detail, but she definitely gasped, breaking into a run when the transmission ended. "Thanks a lot, 2B!" he called, before flying back to his village in frustration.


	6. aji wo Kutta

_Having consumed the mackerel, it didn't take long for the android's bodily fluids to congeal. Muscle rigidity and paralysis soon followed. "It was good though," the android thought as consciousness faded. "Exquisite even. No wonder humans used to eat them..."_

Pod 042 was thrown into the lake by 2B. Despite the great velocity of the charge, it landed in the water with a gentle dip. She leaned back, virtual supports forming to keep her balanced as she waited. "Is this where you found the mackerel?" 9S asked Jackass.

She gave a small nod. "Not much difference between this and every other fish in the pond," she mused. "Yet this bitch would actually kill us if we eat it." 042 suddenly dipped beneath the water. 2B, using gestures, pulled it out of the water. It returned to her side, holding a fish. "Alright!" 9S cheered.

The supports faded. 2B offered the fish to him. "Wanna try it?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Why not?" He happily took it from her hands and bit into it, carefully avoiding the bones. As he ate, his limbs slowly stiffened, he started to choke and collapsed in the dirt. "9S!" she cried as he faintly babbled, slowly fading from consciousness. The last conscious thing he did was to lick his lips. His functions ceased before he could retract his tongue.

Infuriated, she tossed the remains of the mackerel aside, where birds happily pecked it apart. To think, up until he ate it, she was actually enjoying herself. She sent a contact request to the bunker. "2B?" 21O responded.

"He's gone again," she said bitterly. "This time, I didn't even try to kill him. I just gave him the wrong fish."

She chuckled. "Hold on, we'll dispatch another one in a few hours," she responded, before ending the contact.

As they talked, Jackass dragged 9S's body towards the lake, throwing it in while 2B wasn't looking. He sunk like a stone, discharging through the lake. Hundreds of dead fish floated to the shore. She grinned to herself.


	7. Lone wolf

_Fed up, 2B left the camp to its fate and decided to… go fishing? Yeah, that's it! Fishing! With a smile on her face, she packed up and headed for the coast. Ten years later, 2B would find herself hunted by both machine lifeforms and YoRHa assassins-a life she seemed to enjoy more than her previous one._

She watched the dead machines circle around Eve. His rage absorbed them all, creating a shell around himself. As if her day could not get any worse. First, she had to come to the resistance camp to find half the androids devoured by machines, and now this? At least 9S was back on her side, but-  
The machines created an arm and threw 2B into a wall with a quick flail. As she hit the wall, her frustration peaked. _That's it,_ she thought. _This mission just keeps getting more ridiculous the longer it goes on. Fuck it, let 9S learn the truth. Let the androids die out. This has gone on far too long._

In the meantime, 9S ran circles around Eve, trying to hack in. Sensing an excuse, 2B pushed herself free and ran. "Proposal," Pod 042 warned, "return to operational area immediately."

She didn't respond, running right past Eve and towards the crater. "Alert, leaving area of operation," Pod 042 repeated. Still, no response. After repeating its warning one last time, she grabbed it. "Cease all logical thought," she commanded. It fell silent. "Now then," she said to herself. "Time to reprogram _myself_."

A decade of change rippled through both YoRHa and machines. The mission evolved to accommodate more advanced lifeforms, as did they. The tower erupted after one year, and with it came raised stakes. Engels units dominated the ruined city, and 9S ruled by Eve's side. The war had changed.

These changes paled compared to 2B's. Gone were the black uniform, white hair and visor. These days, she wore dungarees, ankle boots and a dark grey shirt with white stripes littering its fabric. (Amazing, she thought, how they had survived millennia of human neglect.) Her hair had gained a darker hue from diving into the water to wrestle with some of the more resilient fish. She had even created a straw hat for herself, with a black ribbon to hold it in place.

She maintained a little room within the mouth of the gargantuan, EMP-emitting unit that still stood off the shore of the city. There, she rested, content in her own world. Pod 042's programming had regressed over the years, and now he was capable of little more than mimicking frog sounds. As she rested, she heard the cries of machines and insane YoRHa units. She stepped onto the jaw of the beast, overlooking both enemies flying towards her. With a grin, she grabbed her sword and jumped, hacking at each one in her path. _Maybe I'll give 'em some mackerel,_ she thought to herself.


	8. break tiMe

_A2 suddenly felt like taking a little stroll. Though the walk gave her a sense of peace and fulfilment, Pascal's village had been reduced to rubble when she returned._

With a smile, A2 ran out of the camp. It felt strange to return to that place, especially after what happened to her and Anemone. But if her former comrade could lead, what should stop her from entering? As she left, she received a transmission. "A2, can you hear me?!" came Pascal's concerned voice.

"Oh, perfect," she replied, oblivious to his anxieties. "I have the materials you asked me to-"  
"Help, A2" he interrupted. "The village is in great trouble! The villagers are… Oh, no!" The feed died.

"Pascal?!" A2 asked. "Pascal, are you there?!" She sneered and began to run. "What the hell is going on?"

"Hypothesis," proposed Pod 042, "the valuable source of information, known as Pascal, has encountered difficulty. Proposal: Unit A2 should investigate Pascal's village immediately."

She gave an exasperated sigh. "Can't I get a break?" she said to herself. "First, he asks me to go run errands for him, now he expects me to run straight back to his village like that? They're machines, I'm sure they can handle themselves for a little while." With that, she changed her direction, running towards the desert.

"Proposal," insisted Pod 042, "Unit A2 should investigate Pascal's village immediately."

"Yeah, yeah," she huffed. "Just… let me do my own thing for a bit, okay?"

"Negative. Leaving Pascal's village to its fate could jeopardize the mission. Proposal: Unit A2…"

She had already tuned out by this point. It turned out that YoRHa units could deactivate their vocal-sensing volume in their ears, if they knew what they were doing. She could still hear the wind, and the sounds of oncoming attacks, but her allocated pod barely made a peep to her.

Unfortunately, upon meeting her comrades in the desert, especially Jackass, she knew she needed to raise the volume again. Lipreading was never her strong suit, especially considering that the lip movements of androids seldom matched their words. Probably just a defect, she reckoned. "Now we know never to try and reason with the machines in the desert," she concluded.

"WHAT?!" A2 instinctively shouted. Her current volume was enough to drown out Pod 042, though Jackass' glare made it clear how annoying this was. With reluctance, she restored it. "Sorry," she said. "Just trying to ignore him."

"Proposal," repeated the pod, "Unit A2 should investigate Pascal's village immediately."

"Better do as he says," Jackass added with a chuckle. "Make sure Pascal's okay, you hear? We'll talk again some other time."

She huffed. "Fine, fine." She bolted for the forest. Not even that stopped 042 from repeating his spiel, no matter how much she insisted she was doing it.

By the time she arrived, the whole forest was aflame. When she entered, she saw machine corpses litter the grass. The head of one rolled down the hill, stopping at her foot. "Oh no," she said to herself, before sprinting the rest of the way.

The bridge connecting the forest with the village was no more. The main tree had toppled, and nary a single machine was intact. Pascal's body lay by the start of the bridge, his eyes lifeless. "Pascal?" she asked weakly, kicking him. "S… Sorry I'm late…"

His eyes suddenly glowed a violent red, he leapt up and attacked with a growl.


	9. No man's village

_A village of peaceful machines was wiped out through the actions of one deranged android. Thus, did the peaceful machines go extinct. Their village is now a haunted, forbidden place. Those who wander too close can hear the mad sounds of an android's laughter._

Pascal watched A2 walk in from the city. "Ah, A2!" he said delightfully, giving her a wave. She ignored him, running right past to slice up the nearest machine. He gasped in horror. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm doing what should've been done ages ago," she hissed, jumping into the lower part of the village to hack everyone there into useless metal. "I'm doing what my former comrades were too cowardly to even attempt!" She held the ribbon of the girl machine, her eyes slowly dying before A2 threw her aside. She proceeded to attack the big machine.

"We have done nothing bad!" he insisted, refusing to attack her. She smirked when his cracked body finally exploded. The entire lower village had been cleaned out, including two androids. _Why would she kill them?_ Pascal asked himself.

She spat on their bodies. "That's for hiding among the enemy," he heard her say. Some of the sparks from his brethren had caught in the grass, setting it ablaze. He ran up to everyone, flailing his arms in panic. "Evacuate!" he cried. "A2's gone rogue!"

They stared at him in confusion. "Rogue?" asked one machine, mere seconds before A2's sword burst out of his chest. "Stop!" protested other villagers, backing away from her. "Do not kill!"

Pascal noticed a strange gleam in her eye. A kind of red glow. He gulped. _It looks like our lives are forfeit,_ he thought to himself. He turned to the remaining two, stretching out his arms for a hug. They were annihilated before they could accept. A2 stood in front of him, sword pointed at his neck. "A2…" he whimpered, "why?"

"Good question," she said, shoving the sword down his head. "Don't worry, you won't be alone for long." By the time his lifeless body exploded, she was already gone, heading towards the Resistance Camp. Behind her, the village burned to the ground.


	10. just yOu and me

_Some YoRHa units abandoned their mission, the operation failed, and every android met their demise. ...Well, except for the really selfish ones. They were fine._

The androids all clutched their heads, moaning in pain and staggering aimlessly. Some of them coughed and heaved, as though their digestive systems had gone into meltdown. "This viral attack," 9S thought aloud, "the EMP must have triggered it!"

He hacked into 2B, and cleared her virus within seconds. She looked around in confusion, but with a shake of the head appeared to regain her senses. She looked at him. "9S!" she yelled amidst the confusion. "What's going on?"

9S answered by running. 2B followed in confusion. "9S, answer me!" his companion insisted. "You can save them! Go back!"

"No!" he shouted back. "There's no way we can save them all! We need to survive!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" she grabbed a nearby stone and tossed it onto his head. He finally stopped running and looked at her, rubbing his scalp. "You can't be a deserter, 9S! This is war, and we have a duty to perform!"

9S peeked behind her, seeing an infected YoRHa sneak up on her. 9S hacked into her in seconds. To his surprise, instead of coming to her senses, the unit detonated. The explosion startled 2B, who was able to see her pieces scatter. "Did you just do that?"

"I-I didn't-" he stammered. "I meant to snap her out of it. Not…"

An uneasy silence blew through the air.

"You know," 2B conceded, "you're right. Let's get going."

Ten years later, the two stood on a tree branch overlooking a lake. Just as she had switched to human clothes, 9S had done the same, with a red shirt with a sun printed on it, denim shorts and bright, purple boots. He even started wearing a worn-out cap. Pod 153 rustled in the lake, pulling out a small fish. "Whoa, what did you get?!" Pascal asked, running up to them.

9S looked at the fish in confusion. "I have no idea," he admitted. "Hey, Tooie?"

2E held up a sea bass and looked at him. Her face changed from calm to panic. "Nines, that's a mackerel!" she shouted.

He examined his catch. "Whoops, so it is," he said cheerfully, throwing it back in.

"Anyway," said Pascal, "shall we go back to the new village? I'm sure the androids are gonna love what you've caught."

2E smiled and nodded. "It's a shame you guys can't eat these," she said as they walked down the root.


	11. corruPtion

_The virus reached 2B's central nervous system. She soon lost all sense of reason, and ended up roaming the ruins until her power failed._

Everything lost its colour. All sounds had muffled, and she knew death awaited her. Pod 153 said something to her, something about reaching critical levels of corruption, but she could barely make the words out. She could hardly hear herself either. She could see the vague form of a bridge, and almost crossed it, but then she looked to the other side.

Three rogue YoRHa assassins waited on the other side. She froze. There was nowhere else for her to go. The only safe place she could repair herself was now a trap lying in wait. She had failed. All she could think, as her systems slowly deactivated, was how much she wanted to see 9S, and apologise.

Once 2B was gone, she disappeared from 9S' map. "What?! How can she be gone?!" 9S shouted, continuing to run to the abandoned mall.

"Hypothesis," answered Pod 042, "Unit 2B has been fully corrupted by the logic virus."

"No!" he snapped, approaching the bridge. "She's alive! I can still save her! I-"

He saw her sword, lying in the grass. 9S slowed, picked it up and examined the blade. He looked around. "2B?" he shouted. "2B! I'm here! Please, let me help you!"

Nobody came. Only the distant YoRHa assassins answered, by running across the bridge. They never reached the end, for a sudden earthquake snapped the ropes and threw them into the valley below. The shaking earth knocked 9S off balance, and he staggered close to the edge. He forced himself back to safety, but something fell from the sky. A white block, knocking him down as he cried her name.

The tower had formed. 9S and A2 were climbing it. His sense of reason slowly corroded over the events therein. Especially when he saw 2B in the first room. No doubt about it, that was her. She just stood, catatonic and giving slight giggles and mumbles. No words, no thoughts. Just a standing android without a soul.

In his anger, 9S rammed his sword straight through her throat. As she collapsed, her giggling faded, but only stopped when he pulled it out. Why did it feel so cathartic, to kill his former companion?


	12. Questionable actions

_9S suddenly lost interest in 2B. No one knows why - he just didn't care anymore._

"Where the hell is 2B?!" 9S demanded, standing on a bridge overlooking the city.

"Scanning…" Pod 153 responded. "Black box signal located-"  
"Put it on the map!" he barked, leaping off the bridge.

"Alert! Large-scale ground tremors detected." He felt them the instant he hit the grass. The tremors rippled through the soles of his boots, travelling through his body. "Underground soil structure is no longer stable." Fancy that. "Proposal: Evacuate immediately."

The tremors intensified just as the bridge came into view. 9S froze. _Whatever's happening down there,_ he thought to himself, _I need to get out of here. I'll look for her later._ With that thought, he turned and sped the other way. It took two seconds for Pod 153 to catch up, as though it was expecting him to continue across the bridge. "Caution: retreating could risk losing black box signal."

"Fine! We'll look for her again later!"

It slowed a few inches, seemingly in surprise, before speeding up.

A month later, he saw A2 slashing at the field surrounding the tower. He stepped up to her. "Not even I can get it open," he calmly told her. "If it can block a hacker like me, you won't be able to blunt force it open."

She kept slashing the field. "You'll be surprised by how many things open," she told him, "if you blunt force them." He watched in silence as the sword broke, the blade flying across the dirt. She turned to him with a shrug. "Alright, what do you know?"

"You noticed those strange machines flying everywhere?" he proposed. "I saw some in the forest, amusement park and the flooded city. Now, I think I might be able to crack them open, and that might just help us get into the tower."

"Us?"

He looked up at it. "Well, yeah. You wanna find out about this tower too, don't you?"

"I would've looked into it someday." She looked up with him. "This is probably, like, the key to finding out about the aliens. YoRHa may be gone, but we could at least look into this, end the war once and for all, right?"

He nodded. "I just wish 2B were here to help us."

She gritted her teeth. Dare she tell him what she did? "Yeah…" she answered. "Let's do this, for her."

He nodded. "Maybe we'll bump into her on the way." With that, he began running to the forest.

She followed, glad that 2B's body had been crushed by one of the pieces of the rising tower.


	13. maveRick

_A2 had a "bright" idea that involved destroying every machine in sight. Pascal could only watch in astonishment._

"Pascal!" cried A2 as the door closed behind her. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, A2…" he responded, his voice drained of emotion. Clearly evacuating the survivors of the attack to this little factory had taken its toll on him.

"What exactly happened to them?"

"I don't know…" Pascal sat on a tyre and looked at her. "Some of the villagers just started to… feed on each other." He looked at the children surrounding them, then gave her what she assumed to be a smile. "If you hadn't come along, I'm sure we would have met the same grim fate." Emotion started to emerge in his voice. "Thank you."

She looked at the nearby machines. "You know what we used to do when we were in a scrape?" she asked.

"Um… what?"

"Self-destruct. Our bodies would be recreated and sent back where we were. We were, in a way, immortal."

Pascal stood up, feeling uneasy. "A2…"

"So," she continued, smirking a little, "maybe your villagers can be rebuilt too. Stronger, maybe."

"A2, stop!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "If we're destroyed now, we can't be restored! This isn't funny!"

Then he noticed the eyes of a villager, one sitting near her seconds ago, go blank. A gash covered her torso. She fell forward and exploded. For five seconds, a strange silence choked the air. The children began to scream, almost in unison, and run around in panic. A2, giving a grunt of frustration, systematically cut them down. "A2! What are you doing?!" he protested.

"Can't be restored," she repeated. "Ha!" Once the last one was dead, she glared at him. "For thousands of years, we've had to fight your kind, under the bullshit promise that, someday, mankind could return to Earth. How could there be so many of you if you're not still being built somewhere?!"

"Stop it!" He stepped back, pressing himself against the wall, stepping across the bodies of his former friends.

"Why?! They're gonna be rebuilt, don't deny it. Every fucking machine we kill, it's just recycled and sent to fight us again. Over and over." She shoved her rapier into his chest. "You know, full well, that we'll see each other again."

His lifeless body fell forward once she pulled her sword free. It wouldn't explode. Even as she walked away, it would not explode. She walked up to the oncoming tank, along with the machines that accompanied it. "Don't worry," she announced. "I've taken care of them first."

And with that, she charged back into battle.


	14. city eScape

_Of course, Devola and Popola died. Their lifeless bodies were found shortly thereafter, each clutched tightly in the other's arms._

9S channelled his energy into the lock. It was letting him in, at last. He laughed a little, before he heard the distant sounds of flying machines. He broke to watch them appear from behind the clouds, in numbers he struggled to count. They touched down two seconds later, and attacked _en masse._ He hacked some, sliced others, but they kept coming. _Of course,_ he thought to himself. _They would ambush me, once the defences were down._

Behind him, he heard an accompaniment of sword strikes and explosions. "The two of us will take things from here," declared Devola.

Popola jumped in front of him, annihilating the machines surrounding him. "You need to open the door to the Tower!" Popola added.

9S was momentarily frozen. "Devola? Popola?" he asked, unable to believe his luck. "What are you doing here?!"

"Remember your promise?" came Devola's reply.

"What are you talking about?" He tried hacking into the door again, but his progress was still frustratingly slow. He frequently dodged machines, and kept losing his place. "Hold on!" he said, before bolting from the crater.

"9S, where are you going?" Popola shouted, briefly distracted from the battle. A machine struck her in the back.

"I need enhancements!" he shouted back. "I can't possibly hack into it as I am!" He leapt up the crumbled buildings, landing on the surface with a few jumps.

"Damn," said Devola to herself bitterly, just as a machine pinned her to the floor. "Looks like this is it."

"No…" Popola gasped, struggling to save her sister. "How could he?" She looked up at the edges of the crater, and felt a claw pierce her chest.

9S ran back as quickly as he could. "Okay!" he shouted down the crater. "I'm ready!" He jumped over the edge, using Pod 153 to gently float down to the Tower's entrance. The machines waited for him to land. "Devola, Popola!" he shouted. "Where are…"

He saw their bodies, lying on the floor a few meters away. "Shit…" he said to himself, before landing in the middle of the machines.

A2 looked upon the Tower doors. A slew of machine parts littered the ground, along with 9S's broken body. He had been impaled, shoved through a sharp bit of shrapnel. The lock around the door remained. She thought he would've broken through it. With a frustrated snarl, she hacked at the lock. She sliced it over and over, screaming with rage until her blade broke.

The Tower would not allow her in.


	15. faTal error

_Caution: Handle with Care!  
Removal of the OS chip will result in death!_

A2 examined the shelves of chips. She was expecting them to be stored within a machine, like a server. She expected to remove them in the same way they would be inserted. But no, they were stored on shelves, stacked atop each other like books. Each one easily lost if someone charged by in a hurry.

She picked one up. "What's this one meant to do?" she asked Devola.

"Mind if I see it?"

She handed it over. Devola examined it curiously. Popola gave it only the smallest glimpse. "It slows down time when enemy projectiles come close to you," she said cheerfully.

Devola shot her a look. Popola simply giggled as her sister returned the chip. "Um, yes, that's what it does."

A2 looked at it with a smile. "How's that work?"

"It accelerates your perception of events," Popola cut in, just as Devola opened her mouth. "So, when it senses you're in close proximity to a projectile, it fires up your brain…" She looked at the android. "Um, so to speak," she inserted, "to perceive everything twice as quickly."

"She's been collecting these chips for months," said Devola. "It's so inspiring to see her this passionate."

A2 chuckled. "How much?"

"Oh, it's free." Popola stood up and leafed through the chips. "I'm only doing this as a hobby, really. Androids donate chips that aren't compatible with them, I collect them and give 'em to anyone who asks."

"Doesn't this mean people are free to steal them?"

"Nobody has," said Devola. "Even when the machines attacked the village, she didn't lose a single chip." She shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know how. She wasn't even trying to defend them."

"Nor were you," Popola replied, looking at her sister with a cheeky smile. "I mean, we didn't even know there _was_ an attack until we got back from the desert."

"What were you doing in the desert?" As she said this, A2 decided to finally insert the chip. She pulled her short hair back, and felt through her neck servers. To her disappointment, all slots had been filled. Her ring finger pressed the first chip it could find. She heard it pop out, before suddenly losing consciousness. She collapsed in a heap in front of the sisters.

They watched a chip fall to the ground by her side. Popola picked it up. "Oh dear," she said. "She removed her OS chip. That was rather thoughtless." She placed it onto the shelves. "Think anybody will be able to use it?"

"Only one way to find out."


	16. debUnked

_By self-destructing at the Bunker, the entire structure ended up exploding in a spectacular fashion. But hey, it sure did look pretty from Earth! Somewhere in the depths of space, the Commander still floats about with a stern look on her face._

The three androids huddled close to each other, watching their former comrades advance. "What is this?" asked the Commander. "How could they be infected?"

"Ma'am, we need to leave," insisted 2B. She grabbed 9S' hand, but felt only his fist. She looked at him. He had doubled over, tensing up. "9S, stop!" she urged.

He heard her words too late. As soon as she finished speaking, he exploded, destroying his body completely, and throwing 2B and the Commander into the infected crowd. The weird, feminine voice giggled. "Good idea, 9S!" she said. "I forgot you guys could self-destruct."

With that, everyone doubled over and tensed up. 2B re-united with the Commander, and without a word spared, both sprinted towards the hangar. Just as it came in view, bright lights and a loud roar ripped through their sensors. Then, silence.

The androids saw the explosion flare in the sky. Anemone stood up in shock when she witnessed it. "Shit…" she muttered to herself. "Are YoRHa moving onto the next stage already? What does this mean for…"

She was interrupted by the repeating sounds of explosions, accompanied by plumes of dust and smoke shooting outside the camp. She looked outside to see a soldier stagger into view, before self-destructing. She looked back into the camp. Thankfully, none were harmed. Unfortunately, they had noticed the explosion. Panic would follow if she didn't act fast.

She cleared her throat. "Guys," she said, "I don't think that was the Moon. Let's not forget the Bunker only orbits around it, so humanity probably survived!"

They continued to stare. She gulped quietly.

"Hey, A2?" asked Pascal. When he had her attention, he pointed up to the brief glimmer in the sky. "Isn't that the human bunker?"

"Um… yeah, I think it is," she answered. "What the hell happened to it?"

Before Pascal could answer, a tremor rippled through the ground.

The Commander watched, from space, as the Tower erupted from the city. Its final form could be seen pretty easily. In a way, she was almost grateful to have survived it. Just a shame, she thought, that 2B did not.

"Back to square one," she said to herself.


	17. reckless braVery

_9S decided not to hack the Tower in order to help Devola and Popola. It was a nice thought, but they all ended up getting killed anyway._

9S channelled his energy into the lock. It was letting him in, at last. He laughed a little, before he heard the distant sounds of flying machines. He broke to watch them appear from behind the clouds, in numbers he struggled to count. They touched down two seconds later, and attacked _en masse._ He hacked some, sliced others, but they kept coming. _Of course,_ he thought to himself. _They would ambush me, once the defences were down._

Behind him, he heard an accompaniment of sword strikes and explosions. "The two of us will take things from here," declared Devola.

Popola jumped in front of him, annihilating the machines surrounding him. "You need to open the door to the Tower!" Popola added.

9S was momentarily frozen. "Devola? Popola?" he asked, unable to believe his luck. "What are you doing here?!"

"Remember your promise?" came Devola's reply.

"What are you talking about?" He decided to attack some machines with them. They needed the support.

"Come on, 9S!" Popola shouted. "Hack in while you can!"

"No, hold on!" Some machines, he sliced in two. Others he hacked. All the while, the thought of leaving them and breaking into the Tower didn't occur to him. "I can't leave you two alone!"

"9S, that's exactly why we're here!" insisted Devola. "Please do this for us! Don't let us die in vain!"

"I won't let you die at all!" He watched a new wave of machines arrive, hacking into the flying units in a vain attempt to disrupt them. "Your lives matter much more than this!"

"This is bigger than us!" Popola's attacks were slowing, her breathing intensified. "Please, hack into the Tower! We need you!"

"Only when we've fought them off!" Even he felt the strain, but what did he have to lose by continuing to fight? He was even surprised when the machines did thin out. All three of them tried to rest, with 9S lying against the Tower walls.

"Open it!" screamed Devola.

"Okay, okay!" He staggered up to the door and began hacking. Just before he was in, he heard the sounds of machines descending. So, he turned and hacked into them instead. Though he took out some airborne units, they were surrounded once again. "9S, I can't take this anymore!" screamed Popola.

"No!" cried Devola, trying to break towards her sister. Something ripped into the back of her head just before she reached her. The last thing she registered seeing was 9S being impaled.

A2 looked upon the Tower doors. To her dismay, an army of machines surrounded it. Amongst the rabble, she could see the broken bodies of Devola, Popola and 9S. She sighed heavily. "It's like every machine we destroy is sent back into the battlefield," she muttered to herself. "Is it even worth trying to destroy these ones?"

She looked back on herself, before leaping back into battle. It's what she was born for, after all. Was there really anything better for her?


	18. broken Wings

_The YoRHa force was annihilated… and Earth went on to become a paradise for machines._

Energy particles gathered in a long column, stretching from the factory all the way into the horizon. Before she knew it, a beam pierced 12H. Her screams cut through everyone's feeds, even 9S'. "12H down," reported 6O, as though her death didn't change the mission in any way.

Just as the units entered free-flight, 11B was shot down. From the Bunker, the Commander watched them descend through the clouds. As they flew above the sea, 7E met her fate, followed swiftly by 1D. 2B, ever the gallant unit, took it upon herself to assume duties. She smiled. "Is this what it's like to raise children?" she asked herself aloud. "Because I'm proud of them." She turned to the other androids in the room. "I'm proud of all of you. Mankind would be proud to know how far we've come." She put her hand to her chest. "Glory, to Man-"

2B's screams filled the centre. She turned back to see her flight unit fall into the sea. A destitute 4B barely stood a chance against the enemy. Even her mobile configuration did her no favours. No other units remained. The feed died.

Someone contacted the Commander. "9S to Commander. Where is everyone?"

She lowered her head. "The entire platoon has been decimated," she said gravely. "The mission has failed. We lack the means to fight back."

"Then, what should I do?" Somehow, he didn't sound defeated. "Tell you what, I'll continue to research the machines. Maybe we can find a way!" And with that, he ceased communications.

"Um, ma'am?" asked 6O. "What happens to us now?"

She looked at them. "We survive, for as long as we can," she announced. "Maybe 9S will find us data to advance the Project. In the meantime, nobody is setting foot on Earth."

The information never came.

Years on, A2 hobbled through the Resistance Camp. She carried with her spare android parts. Anemone waited for her, among the useless pieces of her former comrades. She looked at her ally grimly. Together, they walked into the market square just outside. There, the machines traded parts. The shadow of an Engels swallowed them as they entered. The stalls themselves were made from ramshackle wood and red tarp.

They placed urn of pieces on the counter. Emil looked at it, crawling onto the counter with his metal body to examine it. "Huh," he said. "That'll be 10g."


	19. time to relaX

A2 suddenly felt like taking a little stroll. And though the walk gave her a sense of peace and fulfilment, 2B's body had been consumed by the machines when she returned.

2B staggered off the bridge, her entire body filled with weight. Her audio units struggled to process Pod 042's words, and she could barely hear herself speak. She cranked her head up, to see some rogue YoRHa soldiers advancing towards her. So… she thought to herself, this is it.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something run up behind them. Suddenly, the soldiers fell to the floor, gushing out a white liquid. A2 stood before them. She gave 2B a little sneer, before running down the bridge, and out of sight. "A2…" she gasped. "What… why?"

Then she saw machines pour out of the mall.

"Where the hell is 2B?!" 9S demanded, standing on a bridge overlooking the city.

"Scanning…" Pod 153 responded. "Black box signal located-"  
"Put it on the map!" he barked, leaping off the bridge.

"Alert! Large-scale ground tremors detected." He felt them the instant he hit the grass. The tremors rippled through the soles of his boots, travelling through his body. "Underground soil structure is no longer stable." Fancy that. "Proposal: Evacuate immediately."

He refused to listen. The bridge was in view, and he knew he could cross it before whatever was causing the tremors showed itself. "2B… 2B…" he said to himself, over and over. Once he was halfway, he saw something that stopped him cold. Machines feasting on some YoRHa soldiers.

2B was among them. "No… No!" He screamed, clutching his head and trying to keep his balance as the tremors rippled across the bridge. "I'll kill you!" he declared, pulling out his sword and running towards the robots. Something rose through the ground, destroying the bridge. "2B!" he cried as he fell.

When he awoke, the first thing he saw was A2, staring at him. "I'm sorry about 2B," she said softly.

"What? How did you know?" he asked groggily. He found himself on a gurney, lying in the Resistance Camp. "How did I get here?"

She shrugged. Her long hair blowed in the wind. "I think we should partner up," she said. "There's a Tower, in the middle of the city. And I think you will play a key part in opening it."


	20. headY battle

_The Emils caused their fusion reactors to go out of control, turning the planet into a dead chunk of rock, tumbling through the vast vacuum of an uncaring universe._

The Emils grunted in pain. Even the little guy, fastened to the cart before 2B, was beginning to crack. "2B, what's going on?!" 9S asked, panic flowing in his voice.

"I don't know, I don't know!" she told him. Around her, the Emil heads began to spin and glow. "Emil, what's happening?!"

He didn't answer. She noticed a glow pour through his cracks. She stepped back in shock. "They're self-destructing," she realised aloud. "They're trying to detonate themselves!"

"I'm… sorry…" Emil gasped, before they all detonated. The pain lasted ten solid seconds.

From the Bunker, all signals suddenly went flat. The Commander stared at the screens in disbelief. "Commander, the planet!" 6O shouted.

She ran out of the command room to the nearest window. From there, she watched a huge explosion rip across the Earth's surface. It burned a bright orange, before cooling into a big, lifeless stone. She sunk to her knees. Words failed her.

"Does this mean we've failed?" asked 6O.

"I… don't know," she said softly. "It's gone, it's all gone. The machines, the androids, everything." She accepted 6O's outstretched hand. Her knees buckled, but she stayed up. "This is the end of Project YoRHa."

"What could've caused it?"

"I think… I think it was Emil." She turned back to the command centre. "Maybe millennia of fighting the aliens have worn taken their toll on his psyche. This could be his suicide."

What was the point in perpetuating the lie, when setting up shop on the surface of the moon? She confessed that humanity was extinct before announcing the plans. The soldiers didn't take it well initially, staging a coup, but this only lasted a few Earth days. When the weight of the truth finally settled, they agreed.

She watched them create their little houses from the pieces of the Bunker. She ordered it decommissioned, and dismantled to set up a new home. Platina, it came to be called. Every now and then, soldiers were sent down to Earth to pick up resources. So far, they only found mud.

Yet, one day, someone came back with something she never expected to see. As she sat in the village square, she saw a woman run up to her, holding something in her hand. "7C! 7C!" the woman repeated, panting heavily. She stopped, and outstretched her arm. "You'll never guess what we found."

Her hand opened, to reveal a plucked Lunar Tear. They looked at each other in surprise. "Life?" asked the former Commander.

"We found an entire field of Lunar Tears, hidden underground!" the messenger elaborated. "There's life on Earth!"

7C smiled. "I'll go get my flight unit," she said.


	21. overZealous

_A2 destroyed Pascal. Pascal's death lead to the collapse of his village and its residents going out of control, resulting in the elimination of all androids on Earth._

Pascal relaxed. He didn't recognise the android who had saved him from the rogue machines, but they had saved him, all the same. "Thank you so much," he said.

"You're a machine too," the android replied, her voice scathing and accusatory.

"Wait, please!" He stayed on his knees. "I have no intention of harming you!" He got up. "My name is Pascal, and while it is true that I am a machine lifeform, I also detest fighting of any kind."

"Uh-huh, and?" The android folded her arms. "Machines don't have souls. They're just murder bots with a fancy name." She grabbed her sword hilt. "They killed so many of us, and I swore to make them pay."

His eyes lowered. "Ah, I see," he said with a sigh. "If that will save your soul, then so be it."

The android nodded and shoved her sword down him.

Something stirred in the collective machines of the village. Something broke. None of them could explain it, other than them feeling like something invading their minds. They felt themselves march out of the village, in perfect sync, towards the city. "A2," they all said in harmony, "I have to thank you."

"What?" She heard it, and looked for the source. The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. Around her, machines began to gather, in greater numbers than she could have anticipated. They surrounded the camp within a minute.

"You just killed their last thought of peace," they all said. A giant statue of a rabbit in medieval clothing stepped forth. It spoke through its trumpet. "With Pascal gone, we were able to tap into all their minds at once. We, my friend, are Legion."

"What…?" she repeated, struggling to understand what they were saying. "One at a time, please?"

"You just killed the last peaceful machine, you dope!" declared the rabbit. "Now there's nothing stopping us from taking what's ours."

And there was not. The machines stormed into the camp _en masse_. A2 did kill some, as did most of the androids within. None of them survived the onslaught.

"Finally," said the machines in unison. "The world is now property of our masters!"

"Your masters are dead!" shouted 9S in response. The machines turned to glare at him. "You know that," he continued, walking into the camp. "They're dead! Gone! Just like humanity!" He strode up to the biggest machine. "Your lives, just like mine, are pointless! There's nobody left for us to save, nobody to fight for! It's over!" He stuck his sword into the ground. "It's… over."

An uneasy silence befell the machines. A machine casually destroyed 9S. "Well…" they all said aloud. "What now?"


End file.
